Lutfi Rakhmawati, Jakarta – Parishioners of HKBP Filadelfia in Bekasi, West Java, say that they have been intimidated for too long. On Sunday, enough was apparently enough.
They joined members of the GKI Taman Yasmin congregation from Bogor on Sunday in rallying in front of the Presidential Palace, calling on the President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to grant them the right to worship peacefully in their churches, which have been shut down by local administrations due to pressure from hard-line groups.
Protesting and conducting services in from of the State Palace has become part of GKI Taman Yasmin's regular Sunday routine since February. Sunday marked the first time the Filadelfia congregation joined the demonstration.
HKBP Filadelfia lawyer Judianto Simanjuntak said that his clients' Sunday service near their church was disrupted by more than 300 demonstrators. Around 100 worshippers were prohibited from approaching their half-built church, located in the Jejalen Jaya subdistrict.
"The demonstrators did not give us a chance to conduct proper Sunday services. They blocked the access to the church since 5:30 a.m.," he said. "As we have always done before, we could only conduct a service on the street, while the haters screamed and swore at us."
Judianto said that there were many police officers and local officials who were present while they were conducting the service. The parishioners hoped that the officials would disband the protesters. The officials did nothing, he said. "The officers let those people shouted indecent words to us."
Judianto said that the church members would likely join GKI Yasmin parishioners and their supporters in other peaceful demonstrations in front of the State Palace. "We want the President to know that such long-lasting discrimination exist, even near the capital."
The HKBP Filadelfia's church, which is still under the construction on a 1,000-square-meter plot, was halted by the Bekasi administration in 2010, which claimed that nearby residents living near the church site objected.
Members claimed that the church was subject to disruption and intimidation at the hands of their neighbors when holding Sunday services on the street. The plight of the Filadelfia congregation has fueled concerns over declining tolerance in the regency.
A survey conducted in 2010 by the human rights watchdog the Setara Institute said that Bekasi was the least tolerant region surveyed, with 74 percent of respondents of the regency rejecting the construction of places of worship for other religions.
In the same year, two pastors from the Huria Kristen Batak Protestant (HKBP) church in the Ciketing, Mustika Jaya housing complex in Bekasi were mobbed. One pastor was stabbed in the incident.
The GKI Yasmin congregation has persistently held peaceful protests to demand their freedom of worship, although the government has yet to find a solution to their plight. Their church has been sealed since 2010.
A Supreme Court ruling has been issued to grant them the right to worship in their church, which Bogor Mayor Diani Budiarto has declined to enforce.
Last month, presidential spokesman Julian Aldrin Pasha said that Yudhoyono does not have the authority to step into the Yasmin saga.
"Even though the President is the country's highest commander-in-chief, the existing Law on Regional Autonomy says that the President cannot intervene in decisions made by regional leaders," Julian said.
"It would be unconstitutional should the President directly intervene in the dispute. Please don't ask the President to commit an unlawful act," Aldrin said as quoted by tempo.co.